ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB

ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to United States, launched on 2018-10-17 from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the AEHF 4 launch. It orbits in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at altitudes between 7,865 km and 32,464 km with an inclination of 13.4°. It travels at approximately 13,953 km/h (3.88 km/s), completing one full orbit every 11 hours 57 minutes — that’s roughly 2.01 orbits per day. Its orbital eccentricity of 0.4635 gives it a noticeably elliptical path, with significant altitude variation between perigee and apogee. As orbital debris, ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB poses a potential collision risk to operational satellites in nearby orbits and is continuously monitored by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and other tracking systems.

ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB orbits at an average altitude of 20,165 km in Medium Earth Orbit, the region between LEO and GEO (2,000–35,786 km). MEO’s higher altitude gives each satellite a much larger ground footprint than LEO, meaning fewer spacecraft are needed for global coverage — but signal latency is higher and radiation from the Van Allen belts is a significant design constraint. Within ±50 km of ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 102 active payloads and 13 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include GPS BIIR-5 (PRN 22), GPS BIIR-8 (PRN 16), GPS BIIR-11 (PRN 19). With an inclination of 13.4°, ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB passes over latitudes between 13.4°N and 13.4°S, concentrating coverage over equatorial and near-equatorial regions. Low-inclination orbits maximise revisit rates over specific tropical zones. United States operates approximately 12,358 active satellites in total, of which 43 share a similar altitude band with ATLAS 5 CENTAUR DEB.